15th Annual Continuums of Service Conference, 2012-04 Seattle, WA
Higher education has its roots in serving the public good. While most colleges and universities still believe this to be a core foundation of their missions, over the years, more emphasis has been placed on the individual gain of the student, primarily in the realm economic mobility. At this point in history, it is imperative for higher education to reconnect to its public purpose.
The civic engagement/service-learning field is well-poised to help create a new vision for higher education. The 2012 Continuums of Service conference, “Creating the New Vision for Higher Education” focused on this topic.
Chaminade University’s Service-Learning Director, Candice Sakuda, was chosen to serve on the COS planning committee. The committee sought to facilitate roundtable discussions to explore diverse perspectives, to create public spaces to share ideas, and to invite prominent keynote speakers representing a broad range of expertise to challenge our thinking.
The committee elected Chaminade Professor Wayne Tanna as one of its keynote speakers for this national audience. He was thought-provoking and hilarious at the same time. Of all we covered during this featured session, Professor Tanna’s speech was the one that everyone was talking about at the refreshment table afterward. One graduate student commented, “That made me kinda want to look into going to Chaminade!” His peer wholeheartedly agreed, “Oh my gosh, I was thinking the same thing.”
Throughout the conference, participants integrated collective ideas into a “new vision” to guide their work, connected their colleges and universities with their communities in profound ways, and prepared their students to be civic leaders NOW, and in the years to come. (Adapted from COS Conference theme statement.)
KEYNOTE PANEL PRESENTATION – Thursday, April 12 at 12:45pm
Moderator: Sherril Gelmon – Sherril Gelmon, DrPH, is Professor of Public Health and Chair of the Division of Public Administration in the Mark O. Hatfield School of Government at Portland State University and Senior Consultant with Community-Campus Partnerships for Health. One of her current areas of research on engagement relates to institutional strategy and establishment of models of faculty roles and recognition for community-engaged scholarship. Dr. Gelmon was the founding chair of the International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement (2006-2008), she is the lead author of the Northwest Health Foundation’s handbook on program evaluation and of the Campus Compact publication “Assessing the Impact of Service-learning and Civic Engagement,” and she received the Civic Engagement Award for Excellence in Community-Based Teaching and Learning from Portland State University in 2007. She is the 2011 recipient of the Thomas Ehrlich Civically Engaged Faculty Award from Campus Compact.
She is an alumna of the Pew Health Policy Fellows Program, and received her doctorate in health policy from the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan. Her master’s degree is in health administration from the University of Toronto, and she holds undergraduate degrees in physiotherapy from the Universities of Toronto and Saskatchewan.
Dr. Lee D. Lambert currently serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Shoreline Community College.
As a leader and champion for innovation and change in U.S. higher education, President Lambert’s work has been recognized locally, nationally and internationally. In 2009, he was the recipient of the Association for Community College Trustees Pacific Region Chief Executive Officer Award.
President Lambert has a J.D. degree from Seattle University’s School of Law and a bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts from The Evergreen State College. He also serves on a number of local and national Boards and Councils.
Deborah Wilds is the President and Chief Operating Officer of the College Success Foundation (CSF).
The Foundation has over 10 years of proven experience inspiring underserved, low-income students to finish high school and providing the unique integrated system of support and scholarships they need to graduate college and succeed in life.
Prior to 2006, Dr. Wilds was a senior program officer for education at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where she led efforts for the Gates Millennium Scholars Program, Gates Cambridge Scholars and Washington State Achievers Program. She also oversaw the early college initiative creating 250 new early college high schools.
Dr. Wilds served as the Deputy Director of the American Council on Education’s (ACE) Office of Minorities in Higher Education in Washington, DC. She has co-authored several books, written more than 20 articles and co-authored ACE’s Annual Status Report on Minorities in Higher Education. She was the Co-Founder and Chair of the Board of Directors of New Era Education, an independent school and pre-school located in Baltimore, Maryland. She currently serves on boards for CSF – District of Columbia, Philanthropy Northwest, College Spark, University of Washington Bothell Advisory and is on the Board of Regents at Seattle University.
Dr. Wilds has a Ph.D. in Education Policy, Planning and Administration from University of Maryland at College Park; an M.S. degree from Howard University; and a B.S. degree from California State University, San Diego.
Wayne M. Tanna, JD, LL.M., is a professor of accounting at Chaminade University. His academic focus is in the areas of tax law and ethics. He teaches a broad range of courses in accounting, tax law, and business ethics to undergraduates and M.B.A. students at Chaminade. Professor Tanna is an attorney and practices exclusively on a pro bono basis concentrating in the areas of non profits, tax, and civil rights law. He has presented over 300 workshops and seminars to community organizations and grassroots groups on various legal and business topics. Professor Tanna also serves on numerous nonprofit boards and is a current appointee of the Hawaii Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. In 2005, professor Tanna was appointed by the U. S. Secretary of the Treasury to a three year term (2006 – 2008) to the national IRS Taxpayer Advocacy Panel. He also is the director (pro bono) of a federally funded Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic.
In recognition of his service to the community professor Tanna has received numerous recognitions, including the Hawaii State Bar Association’s Justice Award and the American Bar Association/National Association of Pro Bono Coordinators’ William Reese Smith Jr. Special Services to Pro Bono Award. Professor Tanna has twice been awarded The President’s Volunteer Service Award (presented by the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation, this national award recognizes exemplary volunteer service to the community and country).
Tom Caswell is an Open Education Policy Associate at the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC). Tom’s current projects include running the Open Course Library, piloting a community college Open Learning Initiative (OLI) in Washington, and supporting the OPEN initiative for Department of Labor C3T grantees. Prior to working for the State Board, Tom was Strategic Outreach Manager for the OpenCourseWare Consortium. He holds an Ed.S. in Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences from Utah State University.
Jimena Mascaro moved here 4 years ago after completing high school in Lima, Peru. Her passion is traveling, which provides the opportunity to learn about different cultures and diverse groups of people. This interest influenced her decision to pursue a BA in sociology with a minor in Women’s Studies, while her desire to help others led her to become a Peer Navigator at Green River Community College. She enjoys helping other students navigate the school system, as she herself was helped. One of her biggest goals is to “leave the place that I’m in a little better than when I came”. She has enriched her meaning of diversity and confirmed her passion for people by being part of several organizations including: Student Government, Latino Student Union, Queer and Allies, and Black Student Union. She will be graduating spring quarter and looks forward to transferring to a four year university.
